Another week down! I’m stoked. It’s time for a little break. On that note, my truck won’t start. I think it’s just the battery, I hope so anyway. I had a personal learning experience during Module 8. I had the pleasure (and yes I say pleasure with sarcasm) of dealing with the stigma of being HIV positive from my own aunt. On the first day we had to carry the egg around I ran into my aunt at the store and she saw the egg. And before I could get a word out she said (excuse the language), “What the hell is that?” and took a step back. My own aunt who I saw the week before that would not come near me. I explained to her that it was for a class assignment for this course and she gave me a funny look and said “Why are you wasting your time with learning about HIV, when all you need to know is to keep your legs closed and you won’t catch it.” This shocked me. And keep in mind that the entire time we were talking; she still wouldn’t come near me.
Long story short, this made me think about myself and what I thought before I took this class. And before I started this class, I always associated HIV with people sleeping around and that was it. I will admit that I was ignorant. I didn’t know a lot about HIV disease hence why I decided it would be a good idea to take this class, to educate myself and help pass that along to others. I can honestly say that I was wrong in thinking that everyone who contracted HIV was sleeping around with lot of people. The truth is, it only takes one time, one choice, one mistake and you have it. That is something that I will always keep in the back of my mind. I have realized that I also thought ignorantly when it came to this disease.
Did You Know??
This is huge!! There were two kidney transplants from one HIV positive donor. The transplants was successful. It was the first transplant ever involving two HIV positive people. The transplants took place in Cape Town. There was a single donor who was HIV positive and two men received the kidneys. The operations were not made public until the surgeons were confident that the transplants were successful! (Beresford, 2008)
According to Doctor Elmi Muller, the surgeon who did the transplants, "HIV patients are at a disadvantage when it comes to getting an organ and dialysis. Even when we try to be fair, they are at a disadvantage competing with people with no chronic illness," she said. "This study opens up an opportunity to help them, even gives them a slight advantage, because of the high number of HIV-positive donors." (Beresford, 2008) This is a great step forward.
Source: Beresford, B. (2008, October 25). South africa pioneers hiv-positive transplants. Retrieved April 11, 2011 from http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/oct/25/aids-south-africa-hiv-barnard.
I found this video. I think it sums it all up and puts it in perspective.
